Street harassment, also known as catcalling, is a form of sexual harassment that takes place in public spaces, oftentimes in urban areas. Street harassment is usually harassment of women by men, but the reverse does also occur.

In the United States, the most common forms of street harassment include: telling unknown women to 'smile,' making sexually explicit comments or noises, and rubbing against or grabbing women (which rises to the level of sexual assault).

Although every incident of street harassment is unique, in descriptions from victims, a number of common themes recur. The "typical" pattern of events goes as follows:

The victim is in a public place, either alone or with another woman or child - but importantly, not accompanied by a man. The victim is not engaging in any activity that could reasonably be construed as an attempt to attract attention. The harasser is alone or in the company of other men, but usually not accompanied by a woman. The harasser tries to engage the attention of the victim in some way (for example by staring, whistling, shouting, or beeping the horn of a vehicle) The harasser may follow with an offensive comment, addressed directly to the victim or to other people but within earshot of the victim. The victim's reaction, which will vary depending on circumstances, will not be positive. The harasser may continue or escalate the inappropriate behaviour despite the lack of encouragement or express disapproval of the victim.

Defense

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People who perform "street harassment" may attempt to defend their behavior with the argument "If they don't want to attract attention why do they wear revealing clothes?" (This argument may not necessarily be used just by those engaging in harassment, but also by other individuals).

Resistance

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Over time, initiatives such as Firegrl and The Street Harassment Project have developed to call attention to and combat street harassment. With the advent of Internet and cameraphone technology, photographing and disseminating pictures of street harassers has emerged as one popular intervention.

In the summer of 2005, Thao Nguyen photographed, with her cell phone camera, a man who masturbated in front of her in a New York subway car. That photograph, which she posted online on a photoblog, was subsequently published by numerous New York daily newspapers and circulated on the Internet, ultimately shaming the man into turning himself in. Today, projects such as The Blank Noise Project make use of this strategy in combating street harassment.

See also

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• Bully
• Teasing
• Mobbing

Further reading

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• "A Black Feminist Critique of Same-Race Street Harassment"

Gender studies | Sexism | Violence against women | Sexuality and society